Description

The trouble with ice is that it pins you to the couch. You cannot hold a bag of ice on your shoulder and drive, cook or carry on with work. Biofreeze aims to give you that cold feeling while you keep going, from a roll-on you can steer onto one exact spot.

How Biofreeze describes it

Biofreeze calls this cryotherapy, meaning the use of cold. The roll-on produces the same cold feeling as ice, it says, and the cooling and then rewarming of the area encourages blood flow to return there. The real advantage is practical: you can move around while the cold is doing its thing.

Why a roll-on

The roller head lets you put gel on a specific area, like the side of a knee, the front of a shoulder or the small of your back, without getting it on your fingers. That also means less chance of rubbing your eyes with menthol-covered hands later. It suits small, targeted areas better than large ones.

Where it tends to live

The 89g bottle fits a bedside table, gym bag, handbag or car glovebox. People reach for it for stiff, tired muscles after training or a long day, everyday aches in the knees, hands, shoulders and lower back, and the knocks and strains of sport or DIY.

First-time tips

The cold is intense at first and usually settles after a moment.
Apply to unbroken skin only, away from your eyes.
Do not cover it with heat packs or tight bandages.

Ask first if

You are pregnant, have sensitive skin, or already use other creams or rubs on the area. A pharmacist or your doctor can advise. A joint that is hot, red and swollen, or pain after a fall that will not let you move normally, needs a medical check.

The free Pain Check-Up can help you understand your joint and muscle aches, and the arthritis and autoimmune groups share what helps day to day.

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